Open Access
Route towards a label-free optical waveguide sensing platform based on lossy mode resonances
(IFSA Publishing, 2019) Ruiz Zamarreño, Carlos; Zubiate Orzanco, Pablo; Ozcariz Celaya, Aritz; Elosúa Aguado, César; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Urrutia Azcona, Aitor; López Torres, Diego; Acha Morrás, Nerea de; Ascorbe Muruzabal, Joaquín; Vitoria Pascual, Ignacio; Imas González, José Javier; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Hernáez Sáenz de Zaitigui, Miguel; Goicoechea Fernández, Javier; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Del Villar, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua,0011-1365-2017- 000117; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA26
According to recent market studies of the North American company Allied Market Research, the field of photonic sensors is an emerging strategic field for the following years and it is expected to garner $18 billion by 2021. The integration of micro and nanofabrication technologies in the field of sensors has allowed the development of new technological concepts such as lab-on-a-chip which have achieved extraordinary advances in terms of detection and applicability, for example in the field of biosensors. This continuous development has allowed that equipment consisting of many complex devices that occupied a whole room a few years ago, at present it is possible to handle them in the palm of the hand; that formerly long duration processes are carried out in a matter of milliseconds and that a technology previously dedicated solely to military or scientific uses is available to the vast majority of consumers. The adequate combination of micro and nanostructured coatings with optical fiber sensors has permitted us to develop novel sensing technologies, such as the first experimental demonstration of lossy mode resonances (LMRs) for sensing applications, with more than one hundred citations and related publications in high rank journals and top conferences. In fact, fiber optic LMR-based devices have been proven as devices with one of the highest sensitivity for refractometric applications. Refractive index sensitivity is an indirect and simple indicator of how sensitive the device is to chemical and biological species, topic where this proposal is focused. Consequently, the utilization of these devices for chemical and biosensing applications is a clear opportunity that could open novel and interesting research lines and applications as well as simplify current analytical methodologies. As a result, on the basis of our previous experience with LMR based sensors to attain very high sensitivities, the objective of this paper is presenting the route for the development of label-free optical waveguide sensing platform based on LMRs that enable to explore the limits of this technology for bio-chemosensing applications.
Open Access
All fiber interferometer for ice detection
(Optica Publishing Group, 2018) Arozarena Arana, Jesús Antonio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Del Villar, Ignacio; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
This work presents an etched single-mode - multimode - single-mode structure that detects the solid-to-liquid change of state of the water due to an increased refractive index sensitivity within the 1.308 - 1.321 RIU range
Open Access
Sensitivity enhancement in low cutoff wavelength long-period fiber gratings by cladding diameter reduction
(MDPI, 2017) Del Villar, Ignacio; Partridge, Matthew; Rodríguez Rodríguez, Wenceslao Eduardo; Fuentes Lorenzo, Omar; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; James, Stephen; Tatam, Ralph; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua: 2017/PI044
The diameter of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) fabricated in optical fibers with a low cutoff wavelength was be reduced by hydrofluoric acid etching, enhancing the sensitivity to refractive index by more than a factor of 3, to 2611 nm/refractive index unit in the range from 1.333 to 1.4278. The grating period selected for the LPFGs allowed access to the dispersion turning point at wavelengths close to the visible range of the optical spectrum, where optical equipment is less expensive. As an example of an application, a pH sensor based on the deposition of a polymeric coating was analyzed in two situations: with an LPFG without diameter reduction and with an LPFG with diameter reduction. Again, a sensitivity increase of a factor of near 3 was obtained, demonstrating the ability of this method to enhance the sensitivity of thin-film-coated LPFG chemical sensors.
Open Access
Monitoring of water freeze-thaw cycle by means of an etched single-mode - multimode - single-mode fiber-optic refractometer
(IEEE, 2023) Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Aginaga Etxamendi, Concepción Isabel; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Urrutia Azcona, Aitor; Del Villar, Ignacio; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren
As an alternative to the different technologies that permit the detection of in-situ ice formation on different surfaces, this contribution proposes the design of an etched single-mode – multimode – single-mode (E-SMS) fiber-optic-based structure as a multimode interference refractometer. This sensor provides enhanced properties with respect to a basic SMS structure, including a higher sensitivity and periodical interferometry bands that can measure surrounding refractive indices with repeatability and robustness. Since ice and water refractive indices are sufficiently different, this structure has been used to detect the freezing - thawing process of water taking place inside a freezer between -20°C and +20°C. Also, this work intends to show a proof of concept of a simple technology that can be applied in different situations, such as in smart cities, avionics, structural health monitoring or even to avoid a cold chain breakage. Inside, novel developments to better understand the working operation of the E-SMS structure are shown, together with a study on how to correlate optical and thermal measurements from a refractive index point of view.
Open Access
Monitoring the etching process in LPFGs towards development of highly sensitive sensors
(MDPI, 2017) Del Villar, Ignacio; Cruz, José Luis; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua: 2016/PI008; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua: 2016/PC025; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua: 2016/PC026
In this work, the monitoring of the etching process up to a diameter of 30 µm of two LPFG structures has been compared, one of them had initially 125 µm, whereas the second one had 80 µm. By tracking the wavelength shift of the resonance bands during the etching process it is possible to check the quality of etching process (the 80 µm fibre performs better than de 125 µm fibre), and to stop for a specific cladding mode coupling, which permits to obtain an improved sensitivity compared to the initial structure.
Open Access
Optical system based on multiplexed FBGs to monitor hand movements
(IEEE, 2021) Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Castillo, Silvia; Dreyer, Uilian José; Martelli, Cicero; Cardozo da Silva, Jean Carlos; Uzqueda Esteban, Itziar; Gómez Fernández, Marisol; Ruiz Zamarreño, Carlos; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Estatistika, Informatika eta Matematika; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Institute for Advanced Materials and Mathematics - INAMAT2; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Estadística, Informática y Matemáticas; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
This contribution reports the development and characterization of an optical system based on parallel Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) to monitor the movements of the wrist and fingers of a hand. The system consisted of a reflective configuration made of FBGs detecting the movements of the fingers and one more located on the wrist as a reference. All FBGs were multiplexed in order to collect the basic movements of the hand. Fibers were embedded in polydimethylsiloxane for protection and to give flexibility to the optical detection setup. Measurements of strain, angle and torsion were performed during the experiments, obtaining sensitivities up to 1.29 pm/ \mu \varepsilon in strain and 64.23 pm/° in angle. Also, a study on the influence of a single sensor on the performance of the whole system was analyzed for a complete study of this proof of concept. The obtained results present a simple system that can be used to monitor the positions of the hand or for the rehabilitation of patients suffering from neuromotor or post-stroke diseases.
Open Access
Multimode – coreless – multimode fiber-based sensors: theoretical and experimental study
(IEEE, 2019) San Fabián García, Noé; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Del Villar, Ignacio; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
This paper presents a complete study on the spectral behavior of a multimode-coreless-multimode fiber-optic structure, as well as its application as a refractometer and a liquid level sensor. The combination of two standard multimode fibers fused to a coreless fiber segment allows generating narrow interferometric bands in the optical spectrum, whose sensitivity can be improved by an adequate selection of the dimensions of the device (the coreless segment length and the diameter of the sensing area). A second way to improve the performance of the device is to deposit a thin film of SnO2, which allows increasing the sensitivity up to 314 nm/RIU. This widens the number of applications where this structure can be used. As an example, a liquid level sensor with 0.73 nm/mm sensitivity is presented.
Open Access
Temperature sensor using a multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser
(Hindawi, 2017) Díaz Lucas, Silvia; San Fabián García, Noé; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica
A novel temperature sensor is presented based on a multiwavelength erbium-doped fiber ring laser.The laser is comprised of fiber Bragg grating reflectors as the oscillation wavelength selecting filters.The performance of the temperature sensor in terms of both wavelength and laser output power was investigated, as well as the application of this systemfor remote temperaturemeasurements.
Open Access
Stable multi-wavelength fiber lasers for temperature measurements using an optical loop mirror
(Optica, 2016) Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Martínez Manuel, Rodolfo; Fernández Balerdi, Rubén; Monasterio Enbeita, Ioseba; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
In this work, two novel stable multi-wavelength fiber laser configurations are proposed and demonstrated by using a spool of single-mode fiber as optical loop mirror and one or two fiber ring cavities, respectively. The lasers are comprised of fiber Bragg grating reflectors as the oscillation wavelength selecting filters. The influence of the length of the spool of fiber on the laser stability both in terms of wavelength and laser output power was investigated. Application for temperature measurement is also shown.